


Panic Room

by Davechicken



Series: Kylux - Fluff & Angst [243]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-10
Updated: 2017-05-10
Packaged: 2018-10-30 06:01:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 457
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10870596
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Davechicken/pseuds/Davechicken
Summary: Somewhere safe.





	Panic Room

It didn’t take long for Hux to realise there was more to Kylo than he’d initially (or secondarily, or tertiarily) thought. After the mask came off, he’d re-evaluated. 

And again. And again.

Hux wasn’t a _people_ person, but he’d always been able to make enough of a judgement call about a person shortly after meeting them to serve his purposes. Until, of course, Kylo Ren.

The man ducked and dodged some questions, and yet was all too happy to answer others. He was some strange mix of a desperate longing to be understood, and a terrible fear of what would happen if he ever _was_. 

(And Hux… knew… then. He knew then that the unease he felt around Kylo was due to looking into a mirror, although Kylo’s shell was more cracked and unsound than his own.)

He’d thought long and hard about the risks involved, and eventually he’d decided - or maybe his heart had decided - that the benefits most certainly outweighed the risks.

Hux didn’t understand the Force, but he understood… fear. He understood the way Kylo reacted, even through all those layers. Standing in the audience chamber, puffed up like he hoped it would help. He’d see him try to bargain and barter. See him try to impress, deflect. Hear the tiny flickers in his tone… 

Hux became an expert in the language that was Kylo, and - as mirrors do - he saw echoes in him of his own self, with… with someone he’d rather not think of.

And so, little by little, he’d worked out ways. He’d researched through the Empire’s archives, and he’d found there were shields. 

It couldn’t be big, or the Leader would suspect. It couldn’t be seen to be mutiny, or… well. That would be the end of everything.

And so he made a room - just one - for Kylo. A room where he could scream, and no one would hear. Where he could kick, and no one would flinch. Where he could cry, or feel, or… _hate_ , and no one would know.

No one but Hux.

It couldn’t be used too frequently, because the Leader might always reach out. But when he was most needing it… he could close the door, and Hux would guard it.

Just one place in the galaxy where his Knight could truly be free.

Sometimes, he even asked Hux inside. Not when he was angry, and not when he was fierce. Not even, usually, when he was afraid… but when he wanted to thank him. When he was overwhelmed with affection that was too big, too much… too dangerous for them both.

And Hux went inside, and saw echoed on his lover’s face the things he’d locked deep down, too. In here, they could let go.


End file.
